Pro's and their rituals...post here.

All pros have some kind of rituals to keep them sane. Some are boring...like bounce the ball twice, some are unique. Do you know of any unique rituals? I've caught little things when I watch tennis, so I'll start it off...

Sharapova... always brushes her left ear, then her right ear before serving
Baghdatis...always bounces ball in between legs before serving
Nalbandian...always rubs his strings with his right hand before all return points
Nadal...always picks on his wedgie before all return points
Hingis...always keeps the 'yy' stencil on her racquet facing up when hitting.
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I just remembered this one - Sampras would do a little rocking motion forward and backward and have his tongue out when he was bent during his service motion just before hitting an ace down the middle.

What ever happened to the blow of the fingers, hahahaha, i never understood it and still dont:mrgreen:

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I used to do it before. But sometimes, not that often.

It's when the sweat is pouring down your hands and no matter how much you try to towel it off, it still keeps coming. Your shirt is by that time all wet too and there's no way to dry out your hand. That's when you blow to your fingers - you try to blowdry your hand.

Pierce does about 50 things and they are all annoying and crazy. If she pulled that ponytail any tighter I think it would rip her head off.

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Yeah she has a whole assortment:

- brushes her eyelashes upward
- adjusts her ponytail/braid and tightens it
- blows her fingernails
- grimaces a few times in weird joker-esque expressions
- studies the crowd behind her opponent to make sure they're settled down
- studies her opponent for a few moments

I think it's Coria where before he returns he "chops" his racquet a few times in front of himself, like he is tapping some invisible board that is three feet in the air in front of him. I haven't seen Coria play in such a long time that it might be someone else though.

Roger Federer man this guy has Rituals, more then any other players I have seen...

Have you notice it that after everym match he goes and grabs pen to sign the lens of the Camera ? and also for some mysterious reason hitting the ball in the stands after every signle match as well as picking up a microfone to speak with the Announcers. I know some players do that as well but, not nearly with the same regularity as him..

i noticed that too. whenever he is winning or made a great shot he touches his balls/penis.
you guys just don't notice that because it is a normal thing to do for you.
however, i think it is not very classy.
at former colleague of mine used to do that all the time. even more so when he was nervous or under tension.
really annoying. won't shake hands with anybody touching.....

Agassi usually puts up the bottom of his shirt on his hips before returning and serving
Grosjean and Hewitt check their dampener before serve
Federer always turns his racquet in his hand before receiving
Nadal... well Nadal is just putting his fingers in his hass whenever he can

Ivanisevic had a few. Like watching the Teletubbies after every match, eating the same thing in the same place in a tournament if he's winning, ask for the same ball if he made the point, a tons of many others

Ivanisevic had a few. Like watching the Teletubbies after every match, eating the same thing in the same place in a tournament if he's winning, ask for the same ball if he made the point, a tons of many others

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Yeah, I think another one is that he did not shave until he finished playing a tourney.

Federer smacks the ball real hard to the crowd, cries to the umpire about the line call system ruining tennis, and rolls on the ground in an effort to look genuine. Sadly, it didn't work.
He's destroying the fun of tennis with his "will".
Sampras, Agassi, Hewitt, Safin and Blake already declare themselves ugly, submissive players. Embarrassing.

Hantuchova, bouncing lightly before each serve. She also frequently turns her back to the opponent, epecially on returns, and takes a long time while she fusses with her strings....

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I don't like this little regrouping habit, it's irritating...

bcaz said:

Agassi, directing ballboy traffic like a cop and making sure everyone is in their proper place before he serves....

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It's funny when he's annoyed that the ballboys aren't in place, he's the only one to be so pissed off

Another habit many players have that I don't really like is to point the ballboy who's got the towel right after a winner. Safin, Srichapan, and many more players do that. The caption could be "I just did a winner, I am powerful, see, people bring me towels on a simple gesture!" or "I just did a winner but I don't celebrate, the most important is to get dry, I'm a professional". OK sometimes they really need a towel after a long rally, but it's more a confidence ritual really.

Navratilova...always wears cap backward on returns, forward when serving.
Ivanisevic...always bounced the ball with his frame, not the strings before serving.
Agassi...always rolls his shirttail up to his waist before returns (I don't know if he does this anymore since his shirts aren't as baggy these days)
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Conchita Martinez always shook her wristwatch before she served.
And WHY do tennis pros even wear watches for on the courts? They don't have to be off the court in an hour so WHY do they wear one?
Edberg always blinked his eyes fast before he served when he tossed the ball.
Sampras double shook his racquet when he was in his service motion.

Rafael Nadal always places his water bottles in between his feet during changeovers. It actually quite annoyed Agassi in the rogers cup final this year. Nadal always sprinting to the baseline to start the warm-up. Not quite sure if picking his ass is a ritual but anyways...Maria Sharapova always jumps a bit before serving. Rusedski needing a towel after every point(ughhh).

I can't believe no one 's mention Lleyton Hewitt yet. the guy's the king of this stuff. fix the chain around his neck before every point, blow on his hands before returning, fix his backwards hat, looks at his oponent after hitting a winner... etc.